nanmer

Thanks Werner for the hope! I am not fixture wise ... in fact I am quite ignorant lol. It is a 48" Glo fixture and I assume it is t5 bulbs??? I am glad that it happened this week instead of next week ... or even the following week when my kids are taking care of everything! I have promised not to think about the fish while sitting on the beach. However, I shall tip a "Cuba Libra" to the memory of the old tank.

It has been two days and this is the first time I was not too choked to discuss it. I have been meticusly grooming and desigining my natural light 33 gallon planted tank for four months. It was looking amazing for a first attempt at a planted tank. Three days ago I had to move a platform to get at a bit of hair algae. I must have accidently bumped the glass with a rock. The next moring there was a big crack, bottom to top. Luckly it was a slow leak and I was able to save everything. Well not my laminate floor! This is a warning to everyone to be VERY careful when rescaping tanks! I cried as I pulled all the plants out of their well established areas. All my hard work ... gone. I was going to buy another 33 gallon but nothing on kijiji. Drove to a few fish stores and found only one 33 gallon, for $75 ... yikes! I had to do something, my plants are crammed into a 20 gallon sump tank. Luckly I have a empty 90 gallon that I was going to move this weekend, I just sold all my saltwater stuff. I put the substraight in the tank and I am waiting for it to clear. I do not have the proper light for the plants, my saltwater light will have to cut it for two weeks. I am off to Cuba, for a week, in six days. I have a 48 gallon in storage that I am going to put in the 33 gallons place. I don't have time to establish substraight etc. I am going to hold my breath and hope things are ok until I get back. I hope plant losses are minimal. On the bright side, I get to plan and scape a bigger tank! I can also right any mistakes. *sigh*

AMAZING photos!

Congrats! Always exciting to see the flippy flap of little fins!

Welcome to the group. Lots to read and learn!

welcome!

welcome!

I find that trumpet snails are not attracted to lettuce or zucchini. I keep a 33 gallon snail tank to supply my cichlids and puffers. I always leave bait down for the ramshorn and pond snails. I get a ton of them, but rarely do I get trumpets. Trumpets are mainly attracted to waste in the substraight, they eat very little algae. Not only do they prevent gas pockets from forming in the sand, they eat any fish waste. This prevents nitrates etc. Loaches are the best at keeping the numbers down. Anything that eats poop, is awesome in my book!

I have kept endlers with my shrimp for years. I have sold hundreds of shrimp. Never had a problem with endlers eating them.

very nice pics! thanks for sharing

Did not want to count my chickens before they hatched but they are two day old puddles now!

Welcome!

Hi Crystal! Did you ever get an ID on the lily? Have you ever had a flower?

Excellent suggestions, thanks! Now I will have to kick the puffers out so I can get some neat snails to deal with any algae issues.

I have really been bit by the plant bug! Has anyone ever done a brackish planted tank? I see some plants can be used, would love some suggestions! Do the same co2 rules apply?

Thanks Vince! I have blocked out all fish from the area so hopes are high. I think a sneaky petricola cat snuck in and ate my festivum fry. I am using a better barrier this time

I will keep my fingers crossed! I tend to blame the pest snails for the missing bud, will have to put in a snail trap. There were a few on the sand near the bud.

I love my yellows! The adult color is amazing. I too have a tank full of juvies. I have one in my "calm" tank and it gets along well with all. I have a pair in my "not as calm" tank and they certainly hold their own! They are keepers in my book as the lemon-lime color is a nice addition to the blue and brown of my other S/C Americans.

My chocolate cichlids have eggs. After a long courtship, they finally got down to business. Luckily they did not have 500 eggs, perhaps 20 - 30. Lets see if they hatch! In regular dress, they are unimpressive. In breeding gowns their colors are amazing!

Please forget the shrimp, they won't last an hour!

Thanks for the reply, I considered die back but the bud was healthy and green at midnight and at 5am it was gone. It was emerging from the crown so not much for a stalk. If it was die back how long would it take to disintegrate and how to prevent die back? It had flower buds when I got the plant, they turned brown and stick around for a while. I am sure that preventing die back involves ferts, I am new to this game and still learing!

I have a nice group of mini water lilies. I have been waiting to see a flower. With great excitement, a bud finally appeared! Two days later, gone! I don't want to blame the wrong fish/snail but who do I ? I have a few pond snails and rams (trying to get rid of them), 2 zebra nerites, a few Chinese trapdoor snails, one albino bn pleco, petricola cats, and two gold angels. The rest of the fish are dithers and have no interest. At present I am ready to go on a pest snail hunt . Before I rip my planted tank apart I want to rule out a fish snacking on a nice tender flower bud. I see another bud forming and am considering putting a cage with razor wire around it!

Try and get a picture, sounds interesting! Maybe another species of shrimp snuck into the shipment to the store? When shrimp are stressed they loose all color and now they are big enough and comfy enough to show off.

Welcome! If you take a look at the wealth of articles, you will find all kinds of info. I am still reading lol.

I am viewing members tanks to get ideas. I REALLY like how you placed your rocks. I like how you built up that one area, I am going to steal this idea as I have a mini water lily that has to be placed higher in the tank. Right now it is sitting in a lizard food dish supported by three bricks lol. The bricks add so much to the over all effect ... not! I must go and morph (pun intended) my aquascape. Thanks for the great ideas!